Buzz: An Unauthorized Autobiography / Robert Zverina

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Author:

“Robert
Zverina grew up on Long Island, NY among three generations of Czech ex-pats. He
received an MFA in Poetry from Brooklyn College under the mentorship of Allen
Ginsberg, whose meticulously captioned photographs and lessons in empathy were
an inspiration.”

“Born in
1969 on the day of the first moon landing, Buzz is the only American-born child
in a Czech political refugee immigrant family. Adrift between Old World and
New, feeling alienated by so-called progress, Buzz struggles to find connection
in New York City's stultifying Long Island suburbs. When saying goodbye to his
step-father for the last time, Buzz inherits his childhood home along with a
closetful of shameful secrets. Buzz's bizarre family saga and his earnest quest
for friendship present a darkly comic yet touching portrait of the post-War
immigrant experience.”

Appraisal:

Like Buzz,
I’ve always felt a strong … connection, for lack of a better way to put it, to
the Apollo 11 mission, specifically the first moonwalk. In the case of Buzz,
our protagonist, that was the day he was born. For me, it was my eleventh
birthday. I thought turning 11 and Apollo 11 was symbolic of something. So I
was primed to feel a connection with Buzz.

In some
ways I did. As Buzz reacts to different historical events, I could relate, even
if from the perspective of someone a few years older. Yet in Buzz’s everyday
life, I didn’t so much. Not unlike the difficulty other people had connecting
with him. As the story progresses, Buzz uncovers pieces of his own history that
might account for his difficulties.

Overall I
found Buzz to be well written, with
quirky and interesting characters, and a perspective much different than my
typical literary diet.

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